About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Kristopher Jansma
Positive Library Journal Readers of World War II fiction will enjoy his perceptive take on survival, family, and starting over.
Wenyan Lu
Rave Library Journal The title character’s wry, sad, and insightful inner voice is the star here. Her meditations on grief, death, love, and duty are full of poetry and longing.
Zara Raheem
Positive Booklist While astute readers will easily see where the story is headed and the resolution seems rushed, the real treat of the book is the relationship between the sisters. Raheem writes of their bond in all its complicated, messy and loving glory.
Rachel Beanland
Rave Booklist Seamlessly interweaving historical facts and her own narrative, Beanland follows these four characters through the fire, the immediate, chaotic aftermath, and the subsequent investigation. Fully realized characters and gripping prose makes for an excellent, riveting novel.
Salma El-Wardany
Rave Library Journal This coming-of-age novel by El-Wardany, an Egyptian Irish poet and BBC broadcaster, captures perfectly the uncertainty of life in one’s mid-20s and how easy it is to become unmoored ... El-Wardany’s highly recommended debut sensitively handles rape, domestic abuse, and the pressure of familial obligation. The book’s particular strength is in its treatment of the women’s Islamic faith as each grapples with what it means to be devout. There are no easy answers here, and readers will be thinking about Malak, Kees, and Jenna long after they close the book.
Jennifer Murphy
Positive Library Journal While the twists at the end are not needed and somewhat spoil what comes before it, this novel from Murphy is ultimately a love story between a mother and a daughter as well as an examination of how trauma shapes our lives and choices. Recommended for larger fiction collections.
Andrea Yaryura Clark
Positive Booklist Shifting from Paloma in 1998 to Santiago in the 1970s, Clark’s debut novel is a compelling story of a time and place that might not be well known to American readers as well as a heartbreaking narrative of generational trauma. Recommended for all public library collections.
Alison Stine
Rave Booklist Stine has once again written a thought-provoking, harrowing feminist tale that is a natural extension of our current climate crisis. Beyond the prescient plot, Stine’s characters shine with rich interior lives. Like Coral and her art, the characters create love, small comforts, and joy amidst their grueling day-to-day existences. Highly recommended for all fiction collections.
Erica Abeel
Pan Library Journal While white heteronormative second-wave feminism of the 1970s is ripe for critique, Abeel’s...satire falls short; any valid insights are lost in the repetitive writing and characters who fail to engage readers’ interest. Nonetheless, those who lived through this era might enjoy the gossipy feel of this tell-all novel.
Christopher Buehlman
Rave Booklist Kinch’s sardonic, world-weary narration is a delight. Full of adventure, magic, humor, and a touch of romance, The Blacktongue Thief exhibits a fully realized fantasy world. From card games to songs to long-ago wars, this world is lived in and awash in intriguing details. Give this to those readers eager for George R. R. Martin or Patrick Rothfuss to finish their series, or to any fantasy fan. Highly recommended for all library collections. This is epic fantasy adventure at its best.
S. Kirk Walsh
Positive Booklist The unique setting of Belfast during WWII makes this book stand out, though Hettie’s romantic entanglements threaten to make the very intelligent heroine seem foolish and vapid. Overall, fans of WWII fiction and historical fiction will enjoy this fresh take on the era, and it is recommended for all collections.
Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto
Rave Booklist In 1500 words or less, 42 authors of both horror and literary fiction surprise, scare, and confound in this outstanding anthology ... Some have a Twilight Zone feel to them ... While some of the stories will leave readers wanting more of the world the author created, most are perfectly suited to this short form. Highly recommended for all fiction collections.
Rachel Beanland
Positive Booklist Loosely based on her own family history, Beanland’s first novel is a strong family drama. While the ending tidies each storyline up a bit perfectly, this is a finely realized work of historical fiction.
Marlowe Benn
Positive Library Journal While the pace of this debut is slow at times, Benn has created a delightful sleuth, and readers will look forward to more mysteries starring this Jazz Age heroine. Recommend to readers of Carola Dunn’s Daisy Dalrymple and Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher and all those seeking a period-rich mystery.
Jennifer Givhan
Rave Booklist Poet Givhan’s first novel is a unique take on dystopian fiction, weaving the culture of Pueblo peoples into an adventurous, apocalyptic page-turner. Lyrical writing and exceptional plotting make this #OwnVoices novel highly recommended for all fiction collections.
Eithne Shortall
Rave Booklist A poignant and touching account of one woman moving on after great tragedy. Shortall’s American debut does not go for easy solutions but shows how grief manifests differently for those who experience it. Secondary characters in the novel provide necessary comic relief and hope to Grace that life will go on.
Terry Gamble
Positive Booklist Gamble has crafted an epic tale of antebellum America as seen through the eyes of immigrants. While some plot contrivances mar the otherwise excellent story, readers will enjoy this unconventional family. For all historical fiction collections.
Melissa Lenhardt
Mixed Booklist The overall plot is fast paced, despite the format: the story is told through diary entries, newspaper clippings, and WPA slave-narrative interviews, which adds some distance between the reader and characters, and the story is bookended with the viewpoint of a modern historian who discovers Garet’s diary. Readers who relish an unusual narrative structure will enjoy this unique take on the traditional western.
Sergey and Marina Dyachenko, Trans. by Julia Meitov Hersey
Rave Booklist Dark and foreboding, this fantasy, translated from Russian, is more of philosophical treatise on growing up and the nature of reality than an adventure tale. Readers willing to challenge themselves and slowly digest this deep book will enjoy it immensely.
Grace Draven
Rave Library Journal Daring adventures, solid worldbuilding, and a sizzling romance make this first book in the Fallen Empire series a winner. Fans of fantasy and romance will be eagerly anticipating the next title in Azarion and Gilene\'s story. Highly recommended.
Francesco Dimitri
Positive Booklist Online Four childhood friends make a pact to meet in their home village every year on the same date. Fabio, a photographer, lawyer Marco, and Tony, a doctor, arrive as usual. When Art, the originator of the pact, doesn’t show, the friends worry ... Making his debut writing in English, Italian author Dimitri crafts an emotional tale that is less about hidden supernatural things and more about the things we hide from our friends and from ourselves.
Miriam Parker
Positive Booklist Online Hannah Greene, 30, finally has her life figured out. She is about to graduate from business school, has a steady, long-term boyfriend, Ethan, and a prestigious new job at Goldman Sachs. But when she and Ethan take a road trip to wine country, the thought of going back to the urban jungle of NYC pales in comparison to the fresh air and wine of Sonoma. Luckily, one of the wineries, Bellosguardo, can use someone with Hannah’s business skills ... While Hannah can be unsympathetic at times with her selfish decisions, the eclectic cast of characters rounds her out. Perfect to read with a glass of wine and some good cheese.
Amber Brock
Positive Booklist Online Brock uses descriptions of the glamour of 1950s New York, South Beach, and Havana to add sparkle to this quick-paced period novel about a spoiled heiress who slowly learns to see beyond her own privilege.
Ruth Joffre
Rave Booklist Each of the 11 short stories in this collection shares a similar lyrical, hallucinatory air ... Readers looking for happy endings should look elsewhere, as the author does a masterful job of showcasing the danger, both literal and figurative, that women face by loving another person. Perfect for fans of Kelly Link and of Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties, Joffre’s debut collection heralds the arrival of a new, exciting voice in fiction.
Elisabeth Cohen
Positive Library Journal As an updated version of Allison Pearson\'s I Don\'t Know How She Does It for our hyperconnected tech age, this debut novel is funny and smart with an appealing, driven protagonist.